A bond that must never be broken (3), by Femi Fani-Kayode 

Permit me to offer a history lesson and share a few facts with Minister Khumbudzo Tshaveni about who and what we are as a nation and the contributions and sacrifices that we made for the emancipation of her people all in the name of Pan-Africanism.

Ours is a great and proud nation of strong, enterprising and resilient people whose Head of State, General Murtala Mohammed, condemned the Western powers and their support for white minority rule in South Africa and formally declared Nigeria as a member of the famous “front line states” in the fight against apartheid! 

Outside of that, he not only deployed 13,000 Nigerian troops to do battle against the apartheid forces in southern Africa using some of South Africa’s neighbouring states of Tanzania, Zambia, Mozambique, and Angola as a base and springboard, but he also went to the OAU (today’s AU) Heads of Government meeting in Addis Ababa in 1975 and delivered the most powerful anti-apartheid speech ever delivered by an African leader, titled: “Africa Has Come of Age.” 

In that speech, he castigated the white South African Government in Pretoria and chastised and challenged their American and Western backers. He essentially told American President Gerald Ford to “shut up” and “go to hell” after the latter sent a memo to African leaders, including him, “directing” them to soft-peddle in their fight against the Afrikaaners and white minority rule in apartheid South Africa. 

Permit me to quote a portion of that historic speech, which was delivered with fire and passion before a hall that was filled to the brim with African Presidents and Heads of State, in this essay: “When I contemplate the evils of apartheid, my heart bleeds and I am sure the heart of every true-blooded African bleeds…We cannot pretend that we are unaware of the machinations and conspiracies against our Continent by not just the racists of South Africa but even by those who pretend to be the friends of this Continent but whose sole interest is in what they can get out of us…Not content with its clandestine support and outpouring of arms into Angola to create confusion and bloodshed, the United States President (Gerald Ford) took upon himself to instruct African heads of state and government, by a circular letter, to insist on the withdrawal of Soviet and Cuban advisers from Angola as a precondition for the withdrawal of South African and other military adventurers. This constitutes a most intolerable presumption and a flagrant insult on the intelligence of African rulers… Africa has come of age. It is no longer under the orbit of any extra-continental power. It should no longer take orders from any country, however powerful. The fortunes of Africa are in our hands to make or mar. For too long have we been kicked around; for too long have we been treated as adolescents who cannot discern their interests and act accordingly. For too long has it been presumed that the African needs outside ‘experts’ to tell him who are his friends and who are his enemies. The time has come when we should make it clear that we can decide for ourselves; that we know our own interests and how to protect those interests; that we are capable of resolving Africa’s problems without presumptuous lessons in ideological dangers which, more often than not, have no relevance for us, nor for the problem at hand!”

This was undoubtedly Nigeria’s finest moment and General Mohammed backed up his words with concrete action by not only defying the Americans but also by knuckling down and doubling our efforts in support of the gallant fight against the apartheid Government in South Africa and white minority rule. 

His speech inspired other African leaders to stand strong and resulted in them rejecting the attempt by the Americans to impose their will and intimidate them.

The General’s words encouraged them to increase their efforts in the struggle against western imperialism, neo-colonialism and the Boers of South Africa.

The fact that he was murdered in an attempted military coup a few months after delivering it in Addis Ababa speaks volumes and there are those that believe that it was because of his hard line approach to apartheid South Africa and his uncompromising stand against western imperialism that he was murdered. 

Thankfully, our contribution to the South African struggle did not end there but became even more aggressive and assertive after General Murtala Mohammed was assassinated. For example, General Olusegun Obasanjo, General Mohammed’s erstwhile second-in-command who succeeded him as Head of State after his assassination in 1976, took the fight against apartheid a stage further and even refused to shake the hand of James Callaghan, the British Prime Minister, because of the support that the United Kingdom insisted on giving the white minority Government in South Africa. 

That is how far we went and that is the Nigerian for you. Once we commit to a struggle, we are as constant as the Northern star. 

Ours is a civilised nation of large hearted people which was the moving force at the United Nations in the fight against apartheid and white minority rule in South Africa and which Chaired and powered the United Nations Special Committee Against Apartheid from the early 1960’s! 

We were also the primary force that ensured that apartheid South Africa was expelled from the British Commonwealth and was banned from participating in international sports competitions like the Olympics, the Rugby World Cup and the Soccer World Cup.

The fact is that without the support of Nigeria, Cuba, Libya, the Soviet Union, the Nordic countries (particularly Sweden), the “Frontline State” African nations of Tanzania, Zambia, Angola, Mozambique and later Zimbabwe and the nations and people of Africa generally the defeat of white minority rule and apartheid in South Africa would not have been achieved in 1990! 

Again no country gave Umkhonto we Sizwe (MK), the armed wing of the ANC, more funding and logistical support than Nigeria and Libya whilst Cuba and the old Soviet Union provided them with military advisers, arms, and training. 

Ours is a nation that is prepared to stand up for the oppressed and sacrifice for others and there was a time, during your struggle and when General Olusegun Obasanjo was in power, that Nigeria nationalised British Petroleum and threw out Barclays Bank because of the support that the United Kingdom and Barclays insisted on giving the white minority Government of South Africa and as a result of our total commitment to black majority rule in your nation.

We also opened up our universities for free education for black South Africans, gave your people our passports to enable them to travel the world freely, taxed our civil servants with 2 percent of their salaries, which was donated to a free South Africa Fund (this was known as the Mandela Tax), and gave sanctuary to your leaders, including President Thabo Mbeki. 

And guess what? It was not only Thabo Mbeki that took refuge in our shores but also President Nelson Mandela.

Mandela lived in Nigeria between 1962 and 1963 and was sequestered in the home of the Parliamentary Secretary who later became Minister of Aviation, Chief Mbazulike Amaechi, in a town called Ukpor in the old Eastern region which is in present-day Anambra State. 

This means that both South Africa’s first and second post-independence Presidents, Mandela and Mbeki, were both living in exile in Nigeria at one point or the other and both enjoyed the full protection of our Federal Government. 

Mbeki lived in our country from 1977 till 1984 and went on to become President of South Africa in 1998 after Mandela had served as President from 1994 till that year.  

Ours is a caring and sharing country where our children gave up their lunch allowance in school and instead of buying lunch used the money to raise over $10 million for the struggle for emancipation and liberation in South Africa.

Ours is a loving nation who is willing to give her all for those that are suffering injustice and those we care for and who gave no less than $61 billion (according to the South African Institute of International Affairs) between 1960 and 1994 as our contribution to your struggle against apartheid and white minority rule. 

Ours is a nation that still supports and brings enormous benefits to your country today through trade and we are one of the three countries, together with Angola and Mozambique, that provide 90 percent of your energy needs in terms of oil and gas. 

We are also one of the 53 African countries that collectively provide a market for 80 percent of your goods and finished products today. 

𝕤𝕖𝕖 𝕞𝕠𝕣𝕖/𝕨𝕒𝕥𝕔𝕙 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕧𝕚𝕕𝕖𝕠 𝕙𝕖𝕣𝕖